Cyclone Prairie Rangers
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Benjamin Kline
Charles Starrett
Dub Taylor
Constance Worth
Jimmie Davis
Jimmy Wakely
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Rodeo star and undercover government agent Steve Travis is on a tour to promote the sale of war bonds when he suddenly receives a special assignment from Washington to investigate repeated acts of sabotage that have been directed against the ranchers of Cyclone Prairie. Along the trail to Cyclone Prairie, Steve, accompanied by his sidekick Cannonball, Jimmy Wakely and other members of the rodeo troupe, follows the sound of gunfire to a railroad station and discovers that the station master has been shot and a switch thrown to derail an oncoming train. After reversing the switch, Steve pursues the saboteurs, who take refuge in the hills. When Steve sees Sheriff Morgan riding down the trail, he mistakes him for a member of the gang and pulls his gun on him. The confrontation is witnessed by the deputy sheriff and local ranchers Jim Leonard and Lee Bennett, who who ride to the sheriff's assistance. After arresting Steve, the sheriff orders his deputy to take him to jail. On the ride back to town, the deputy accuses Steve of being one of the "fifth columnists" who have been destroying the ranchers crops and killing their cattle in an attempt to deprive defense industry workers of their food supplies. Cannonball, seeing Steve in the deputy's custody, lassos the lawmen from his horse, thus allowing Steve to escape. Soon after, Steve, Cannonball, Jimmy and his boys ride into town, and while Jimmy and the boys are hired to perform at Lola's Café, Steve and Cannonball visit the sheriff. Unknown to Steve, Lola is in league with the saboteurs, who are led by Emil Weber, a Nazi agent posing as a deaf-mute cobbler. Bennett and Leonard are also at the sheriff's office, and there Steve shows them the papers authorizing him as a secret agent for the defense industry. Upon leaving the office, Leonard, who is working for Weber, informs his boss about Steve's mission. Later that afternoon, Steve is strolling past the cobbler's shop when he is fired upon by an unseen assailant. That night, Weber makes another attempt on Steve's life, but when Cannonball appears, he flees the scene of the crime, leaving his dark glasses behind. Becoming suspicious of Weber, Steve searches his shop the next morning, but finds nothing incriminating. Unable to stop the gang's terrorism, Steve calls an emergency meeting of the ranchers. On his way to the meeting, Steve is ambushed by Weber's men but escapes with Cannonball's help. Upon entering the meeting, Steve is denounced as an impostor by Ed Wayne, a friend of rancher Henry Vogel, who unknown to the other ranchers, is also a member of Weber's gang. A fight then ensues between Steve and the ranchers and Leonard, weary of Weber's terror tactics, is about to expose him when he is shot and killed by an unseen assailant. After the sheriff stops the brawl, Cannonball reports that Lola hit him over the head with her knitting bag, and Steve sends him to her house to investigate. Cannonball arrives to find Lola and Vogel arguing and struggling over the control of a gun. After the gun fires and kills Lola, Vogel knocks Cannonball unconscious and rides to warn Weber. As Vogel recounts the shooting incident to Weber, Steve enters the shop and pulls off the cobbler's glasses, exposing him as Ed Wayne. After knocking Steve unconscious with a blow of his hammer, Weber shoots Vogel and gallops off. Upon regaining consciousness, Steve sends Cannonball for the sheriff while he pursues Weber. After a frenzied chase, Steve apprehends Weber, and Cannonball and the sheriff round up the rest of the gang. His mission accomplished, Steve turns Weber over to the sheriff and resumes his war bond tour.
Director
Benjamin Kline
Cast
Charles Starrett
Dub Taylor
Constance Worth
Jimmie Davis
Jimmy Wakely
Robert Fiske
Clancy Cooper
Ray Bennett
Stan Jolley
Edward M. Phillips
Edmund Cobb
Forrest Taylor
Paul Zaremba
John Tyrrell
Edna Harris
Steve Clark
Crew
Gene Autry
Lionel Banks
Elizabeth Beecher
Fayte M. Browne
Jimmie Davis
Lambert Day
Jack Fier
Rex Griffin
George Montgomery
Ray Nazarro
Charles Newman
Dave Ragin
Fred Rose
Perry Smith
Aaron Stell
Ekko Whelan
Allie Wrubel
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
An early Hollywood Reporter production chart credits Dave Ragin, not Fayte M. Browne who is listed onscreen, with cinematography. According to materials contained in the files at NARS, this film was disapproved for export by the Press and Pictorial Section of the Office of Censorship because it was a "completely lawless western featuring a gang of cowboy saboteurs led by a Nazi agent." The censorship office particularly objected to the destruction of food and dairy products and the demolition of machinery and trains depicted. Modern sources add Foy Willing and Ted Mapes to the cast.
